Democracy Rising in Latin America

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Democracy Rising in Latin America

 

The people have spoken in Honduras

Xiomara Castro is elected president

With a promise to end corruption

To help the poor and dispossessed

To bring relief to the oppressed

To liberalize abortion laws

Support the people’s cause

 

They have spoken in Barbados

Electing Sandra Mason president

The first woman in executive residence

Leaving behind English colonialism

Embracing elements of basic socialism

Bidding farewell to the aristocracy

Affirming the values of democracy

 

In Peru the people have spoken

Electing Pedro Castillo of Peru Libre

Rejecting soundly the autocratic right

Pushing the neocons from their sight

To the dismay of corporate powers

Democracy rises to claim the hour

 

The people have spoken in Bolivia

Just as they’ve spoken in Argentina

The question is:

Will America hear their voices?

Will we honor the democratic revival?

Or will we slip back to our imperial ways?

 

 

Omicron

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Omicron

 

A new day

A new dawn

The desperate age of omicron

Wave after wave after wave

Prepare the hospitals

Dig the graves

 

The plague that never ends

Rolls on like an angry storm

Build your walls

Keep your distance

Find a cave and climb in

Get used to virtual existence

Resist the new resistance

 

Omicron is here to stay

It roams by wind and breeze

We pray for it to go away

But it spreads with natural ease

A self-perpetuating force

A debilitating disease

 

It is hard to keep our faith

Harder still to maintain trust

But keep our faith we will

And trust because we must

 

No matter how long it takes

Our spirits will not break

 

(Note: While the Omicron variant is

extremely contagious, whether its

effects are more or less severe is not

yet known.)

 

Social Need

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Social Need

 

Humans have most basic needs

Beyond physical necessities

Beyond water and the air we breathe

Some pay homage to honor

Some answer to greed

Art can give us pleasure

Books can plant a seed

Money can buy a continent

A hero we can breed

But all the money in all the banks

Like all the fishes in the seven seas

Cannot bring joy to the human heart

Cannot fulfill the social need

 

Zuckerberg gave us social media

Bezos gave us a material dream

Jobs open doors of perception

Gates made it cheap

 

But all the wonders of technology

No matter how spectacular

No matter how it seems

Cannot make a human whole

Or fulfill our social need

 

Corporate World

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Corporate World

 

The world will not be controlled

By a single powerful nation

But it may well be dominated

By an omnipotent corporation

 

Gaze into the looking glass

That projects our rise and fall

It is the almighty corporation

That grabs control of it all

 

Meta Facebook is social media

Google commands the web

Amazon takes the retail market

We consume whatever we’re fed

 

The local stores are almost gone now

The franchise is on its way out

That a few corporations will buy it all

Is something few can doubt

 

They don’t care about our interests

They don’t care what we do or say

They only care about their profits

And how much we’re willing to pay

 

Crossing Over

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Crossing Over (Birth of Evil)

 

Good cannot become evil

Without the seed of evil

Implanted in the soul

 

When the seed of evil is implanted

It requires nourishment to grow

 

Greed nourishes evil

Desire in its basest form

Anger and jealousy

Hatred and revenge

 

From these the evil seed is sown

The evil being is grown

 

Humans are born innocent

A fertile unspoiled soil

An open landscape

An undiscovered country

A great untapped unknown

 

A town without people

A place where nothing grows

A song without a tune

A dog without a bone

A dance without a partner

Too many years alone

 

We are neither good nor evil

Until something comes along

Something honest and virtuous

Something twisted and wrong

A shining hero or a villain

A disconcerting song

 

The story takes a turn

A bump along the road

Transforms us to a jackal

Instead of old Tom Joad

 

Wheel of Time

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS/HISTORY

Wheel of Time

 

Ancient stars collide in space

Spin the wheel of time

The birthing of the human race

Out of the muck we climb

We stand and walk upright

Discover tools and weapons

Battles we will fight

Close your eyes and spin

We build towers to the stars

Make deities of common men

Devise machinery and cars

Spin the wheel again

We irrigate the barren land

Invent alphabets and words

Write testaments by hand

Create systems and societies

Monuments so grand

Pills to ease anxieties

Take a break and spin

The wheel of time turns

Relentless and indifferent

To all we want and yearn

Our prayers and lamentations

Our worries and our greed

Advance the rule of nations

The patriotic seed

The wheel of time moves on

The force of all combined

A constant pulsing thrust

Beyond knowing and design

We look because we must

Spin the wheel and wait

A power most divine

Creations of the mind

The wheel of time turns

The movement of the tides

As we can only learn

To enjoy the ride

 

Thanksgiving

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Thanksgiving

 

Today we give pause

To acknowledge our blessings

We who have our basic needs fulfilled

Must thank our blessed good fortune

And acknowledge those who do not

 

We acknowledge the hungry

We acknowledge the poor

We acknowledge the homeless

We must open the door

 

For there must be a way

To fulfill all our needs

If we stop all our fighting

If we end all the greed

 

The bounty of earth is plentiful

There’s enough to go around

If we dedicate our gratitude

Better ways can be found

 

No child should be hungry

No mother without a home

Every soul should take comfort

Knowing no one is alone

 

 

Africa Spared

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

 

Africa Spared

 

It is the great mystery of life

Why some are touched by nature’s strife

The fortunate are left alone

The reasons why remain unknown

 

The continent that has suffered much

Through famine, drought, and war

The virus that has ravaged many

Largely stopped at Africa’s door

 

Some say it is the way of life

They spend much time outside

Some say their very constitution

Allows them to abide

 

We know that their good fortune

Bodes well for the planet earth

It should be studied carefully

For all that it is worth

 

We may never know the reason why

Some were spared while others died

We wonder at the mystery

And pray our own will survive

 

Ethiopian Civil War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Ethiopian Civil War

 

At a time of global crises

The viability of the species in the balance

Instead of uniting against a common threat

Instead of forming bonds to benefit all

We divide in mutual distrust

We divide with an ancient grudge

We call each other liars

Pointing weapons of blame and fire

 

Instead of setting aside our grievances

Instead of declaring a temporary truce

Instead of negotiating a tentative peace

We rattle the swords of defiance

We proclaim our undying enmity

We close the peacemaking door

To engage in civil war

 

A leader of the western world once mused

How all our earthly animosities would

Vanish with a threat from the stars

 

He was wrong

 

All our common enemies

All our existential threats

Only serve to fuel our fires

To build our immortal debts

Enrage our vengeful desires

Enflame our will to harm

Until we build our towers of arms

Knowing we will never learn

Until our homes have burned

Leaving everything in sorrow

A curse upon tomorrow

And tomorrow

 

Cuba Llorando

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Cuba Llorando

 

You cannot stop the rain falling

You cannot stop the people calling

For a free and democratic voice

Here them cry out loud for choice

 

We cry for you dear Cuba

We understand your deep frustration

America has long betrayed

Your rights as a free nation

 

We stood by you all these years

In hopes you would progress

From a well-intentioned autocracy

To pass the democratic test

 

But alas you failed to listen

To the voices of the people

You are a nation without direction

Like a church without a steeple

 

It is not too late to change your ways

Let the majority decide

For you cannot stop the river running

And you cannot fight the tide

 

Austrian Lockdown

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Austrian Lockdown

 

What is happening in Austria

May come to Indiana soon

The unvaccinated are in lockdown

For all of Europe it is high noon

 

The virus is rising up again

Seems it never really went away

As the winter winds sweep in

We bow our heads and pray

 

If this can happen in Western Europe

Where precautions were surely taken

What hope is there in the heartland

Where so many are forsaken

 

There are protests in Vienna

They are “fighting for their rights”

But the virus keeps mutating

Turning days into long lost nights

 

Fight back if you can

Take care if you will

For the next wave is coming

And it’s ready to kill

The Last Dictator

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

The Last Dictator

 

The last dictator can never be

For there will always be another

A son follows his father

A monster succeeds his brother

 

How egotistical to proclaim oneself

The last of a dying breed

For where there is money and power

There is always a place for greed

 

There comes a time of destiny

For all who worship power

Mark it on your calendar

Down to the date and hour

 

You are not the chosen one of God

You are just another man

Who desires more than he deserves

Who devised an evil plan

 

Your days are coming to an end

The writing is on the wall

The people will rise to celebrate

Their despicable tyrant’s fall

 

(for Lukashenko of Belarus)

 

Post Reality

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

 

Post Reality

 

Read the writing on the wall

To see where this is heading

A world of one’s own creation

Time event and setting

 

They may call it virtual reality

Call it whatever you will

Designed to titillate the senses

And deliver you a thrill

 

Find the world you’re living in

Less than what it could be?

Plug in to your chosen sphere

See what you want to see

 

We always win the trophy

We never landed on the moon

Don’t like the heat of August?

Let’s pretend it’s always June

 

The world is what you make of it

A dream inside a dream

Discard all uncomfortable facts

Your life is what it seems

 

Belarus (The Puppet)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Belarus

 

Like the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears

Like the Navajo at the End of the Trail

The Islamic migrants in Belarus

Are rounded up like stray cattle

Shuffled to camps at the Polish border

Trapped between two armies

In perpetual displacement

 

We know the hand behind this treachery

This crisis of human decency

It is not the puppet Lukashenko

It is the puppet master

Behind the wrought iron curtain

 

As if to prove his relevance

As if to demonstrate his power

Vladimir pulls the levers

And his Belarus puppet dances

 

It is a warning of things to come

A shot across the bow

The emperor readies for action

We may not know when or how

 

Troops gather at the Ukrainian border

A threat of severed oil looms

The future is looking bleak

For some it may bring doom

 

The Enlightenment

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

The Enlightenment

 

There was a time when young people

Enrolled in universities

To become enlightened beings

To study the renaissance

To understand art and literature

To engage philosophy and psychology

To expand the universe of thought

To uncover the workings of the inner mind

 

Now it seems young people go to

Universities to acquire employable skills

To the learn the ways of algorithms

To apply technology to enterprise

To join circles of common interests

And common points of view

To determine an uncertain future

 

One day the arts will disappear entirely

From the university curriculum

Museums will become gathering halls

For gamers and techno wizards

The arts will go underground

Take cover for a hundred years

Only to be born again

Stronger and more valued than ever

 

Honor the Warrior

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

Honor the Warrior

 

Honor the warrior hate the war

The warrior never knew what for

 

We learn from when we’re very young

This is how the world is spun

There are those who know better than us

Get on board the duty-bound bus

We owe them unconditional trust

So don’t talk too loud or raise a fuss

 

Honor the warrior hate the war

The warrior never knew what for

 

So the warrior offers up his life

Takes on the terror of endless night

For she believes it is his due

To serve a cause both right and true

We honor her to the end of days

Our flags lowered his image raised

 

Honor the warrior hate the war

The warrior never knew what for

 

To those who think we’re always right

Keep this truth within your sight

Every war has opposing sides

In whom they trust their god confides

The warriors only follow orders

In deference to their god and borders

They don’t decide what’s right and wrong

They only go along

 

Honor the warrior hate the war

The warrior never knew what for